More than 150 million first time voters are going to exercise their voting rights and elect their representatives who will govern them and rule them. There are total of 814 million registered voters who would be using 1.8 million electronic voting machines all over the country.

As per World Bank’s 2010 research, one third of world’s poor reside in India. 68.7% of Indians earn less than $2 per day while 32.7% Indian fall below the International Poverty Line of $1.25 per day. For several of such Indians, their vote is their only shield against the hardships of life. Their one vote can make or break their survival for the next 5 years. Compared to affluent upper class and comfortable middle class, it is this segment of our population which are more dependent of elections and their choice of political party.

Here, we share the top 10 richest contestants who are fighting it out this general election.

(Disclaimer: The facts shared here have been summarized from the actual affidavits filed by the contestants while filing out their nomination. Their contact details have been included in this list as the same information was filed with the Election Commission of India. The idea is not to stalk them but seek clarifications and clear doubts in case you have any. Source of data: MyNeta.info; Adrindia.org; Firstbiz.com)

Nandan Nilekani (Congress)

With declared assets worth Rs 7710 crore, Nandan Nilekani is the richest Indian who is going to fight the 16th Lok Sabha elections. He was the co-founder of Infosys, the 3rd biggest Indian IT company and was Chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). He has now joined Congress and contesting from Bangalore South.

Naveen Jindal (Congress)

With declared assets worth Rs Rs 3,08,31,54,000 ( 308 Crore+), Naveen Jindal is the second richest contestant. He is a sitting MP from Kurukshetra Lok Sabha constituency in Haryana.

You can send him an email at [email protected] or call him at: 9896344354 for more information about his wealth and his plans if he wins this time. He has two criminal cases pending against him as of now.

Moni Kumar Subba (Independent)

With declared assets of Rs 3,06,75,35,137 (306 Crore+), Moni Kumar Subba from Tezpur, Assam is the third richest contestant. He is part of Congress party but fighting it independently this time. Two criminal cases are pending against him, including one which alleges that he is not an Indian. He has studied only till class 8th.

You can contact him at 09933300111, 09560809740.

Malook Nagar (BSP)

Malook Nagar is contesting this elections from Bijnor, UP with BSP ticket. He has declared assets worth Rs 2,89,62,00,000 (289 Crore+) and he is ranked #4 in this list.

You can email him at [email protected] or call him at 08800347000 for more information.

Kamal Nath (Congress)

With declared assets worth Rs 2,06,90,80,434 (206 Crore+), Kamal Nath from Congress is ranked #5 in this list. He is contesting elections from Chhindwara, MP.

Kapil Sibal (Congress)

Kapil Sibal is a veteran Congress leader and Union Minister in the present Government. He is fighting this election from Chandni Chowk, Delhi. He has declared total assets worth Rs 1,14,47,47,216 (114 Crore+) which makes him 9th richest candidate.

Kuldeep Bishnoi (Haryana Janhit Congress)

With total assets worth Rs 78,65,95,116 (78 Crore+), Kuldeep is ranked #11 in this list of richest candidates. He is fighting this election from Hisar, Haryana. He has one criminal investigation pending against him.

At number 12 is Ashwini Kumar from BJP, who has 6 criminal cases pending right now. He has declared total assets worth Rs 69 crore.

Not surprisingly, 5 out of 10 richest candidates are from the present governing party: Congress!

Giving good competition to Congress in this list are 2 candidates from Bahujan Samaj Party which is spearheaded by Mayawati. 2 are independent (with one of them having roots in Congress), one from NCP and one from little known Haryana Janhit Party.

Here is an interesting infographic comparing average assets of candidates from two largest parties: The BJP and Congress. The candidates from Congress have is more than double the average assets.

[Image Source]

Over to you, fellow Indian citizen. Do cast your vote and bring the change.

Mohul keenly observes the nuances of Indian startup world; and tries to demystify the secrets behind Technology, Marketing, Mobile and Internet. He is a Writer by passion, Marketer by choice and Entrepreneur by compulsion. Follow him on Twitter here: @_mohul

The contents of a page from the text book of CONGRESS’S CORRUPTION This is only a page of Congress’s text book of CORRUPTIONS coauthored by Rahul, Sonia &Manmohan Singh, edited by Mr. Nilekani yes, I do agree that most of his money is from Infosys in genuine way, but Congress had played a big role by awarding him UIDAI’s ADHAR identification card for about nearly 5000 CR. This was Congress’s plan to accumulate money for this election in corrupt way. The day Congress awarded Nilekani the UIDAI contract, it was clear intention of Congress to shift public money indirectly to be used for election. This is just only a page of Congress’s book of CORRUPTION coauthored by Rahul, Sonia and Manmohan Singh and edited by Mr. Nilekani

NEW DELHI: The Aadhaar number repository and its IT infrastructure will be run by HCL Infosystems, which has beaten TCS to win a 2,200-crore contract from the Unique ID Authority of India. According to government sources, TCS bid about 6,500 crore for the contract while Mahindra Satyam backed out from bidding in the final round. The bids were opened late afternoon on Thursday, at just an hour’s notice to vendors.

This is only a page of Congress’s text book of CORRUPTIONS coauthored by Rahul, Sonia &Manmohan Singh, edited by Mr. Nilekani

yes, I do agree that most of his money is from Infosys in genuine way, but Congress had played a big role by awarding him UIDAI’s ADHAR identification card for about nearly 5000 CR. This was Congress’s plan to accumulate money for this election in corrupt way. The day Congress awarded Nilekani the UIDAI contract, it was clear intention of Congress to shift public money indirectly to be used for election. This is just only a page of Congress’s book of CORRUPTION coauthored by Rahul, Sonia and Manmohan Singh and edited by Mr. Nilekani